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Alphas Gets A New Showrunner, Gets Spoiled

Two bits of news today regarding Alphas, the new Syfy series about a group of ordinary citizens with extraordinary mental abilities that’s tasked with tackling cases that other official agencies are unable to solve.

First up is a Deadline report that Ira Steven Behr of Star Trek and The 4400 fame has come on board as the new show runner. Behr will also serve as an executive producer alongside Zak Penn, Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein. Given his past credentials in the science fiction field, Behr’s involvement with Alphas is most assuredly a good sign.

In addition to Behr’s hiring, some new details regarding Alphas have come to light. Charlie Jane Anders at io9 has read several script pages from the pilot episode, culminating in a spoiler-heavy analysis of the show’s various characters, including team leader Bill Harken (Malik Yoba) and potential breakout character Nina (Laura Mennell, pictured above):

The team’s leader is Bill Harken (Malik Yoba), who is frustrated at having to lead a team of people who have no tactical training and can’t carry sidearms. He says things like, “Goddamn amateur hour here,” and “You got us out there playing dress-up. We’re not trained for this.”

He works a lot with Nina (Laura Mennell, pictured above), who has powers of super-persuasion — she can “induce” people to do anything — and they hooked up after some work party. He suspects that Nina used her superpowers to “induce” him to have sex with her and cheat on his wife, Connie. But Nina insists he was just drunk. Nina lives rent-free in a nice Soho penthouse and people give her whatever she wants. When we first meet her, she’s got a model-looking guy in her bed, who’s not sure how he got there. She’s flirty and sarcastic, and it’s hinted that she was a bad guy whom Rosen gave a second chance to, years ago, and she’s carrying some heavy guilt around.